ABC’s Monster ‘Roseanne’ Ratings Guarantee More Revivals Are Coming

Well, if a third season renewal for Will & Grace hadn’t clued you in – revivals are officially here to stay. ABC’s two-part Roseanne premiere cleaned up with almost 20 million viewers, landing the highest-rated comedy episode in years.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tuesday’s Roseanne premiere averaged 18.1 million viewers and an impressive 5.1 rating in its key demographic of adults 18-49. Those kind of millions make Roseanne the “highest-rated regularly-scheduled scripted show of the last few seasons,” and the most-viewed sitcom broadcast since 2014. It’s also higher than the original series finale in 1997, which ranked in with 16.6 million viewers.

Not enough? Vulture notes that Roseanne’s viewership came in just below the Game of Thrones Season 7 finale and higher than the 60 Minutes Stormy Daniels interview this past Sunday, on par with The Walking Dead. Adding L+7 DVR numbers could place the total viewership in the neighborhood of this year’s Oscars broadcast – 27.4 million viewers. As most have noted, an eleventh Roseanne season beyond the nine episodes already ordered is a foregone conclusion.